Writing instrument



Nov. 22, 1949 OCONNQR 2,488,638

I WRITING INSTRUMENT Filed June 28, 1946 4 Fig.2

IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. 22, 1949 U so ore-ice $488,638 WRITING INSTRUMENT A'rth'urF'.'.0Connor,'.Cliicago; Ill:

Applicatiomlune28, 1946;;Serial N01.680129r ;Claims; (Cl. 120'-42T4)IThe. invention relates to) fountain =pensxof--thetypeiusing-alwritingmaterial h'avingsawpasty; consistenoy and: moreparticularly to. pens of this type employingsa rotatablewritingi'rballatrthe forward tip: ofrth-espena An" object; of. the:invention: is to provide new and novel means for-selectively urging; thepasty writingamateria'l forward in :thebarrel of. theepen astheswritingi material adjacent .the r-writingball Another: object is":the: provision of: improved mean'ssforpreventing-leakage of thewriting,- material' through-the. assembled "partsvat izheerear end oftheepen barrel-r.

A further object is to provide improvedmeans for. advancing,-the massmf:writing materialzin thezpenz barrel. by pushing; a button. at. the rearend of l thfi'fllfifl: barrel. each time 1 itis" desired; to urge thewriting; material forward i inthe. barrel.

Anotherl obj ect. is Tto-providesimple. and positive meansfo-rselectively'advancing the writing material. .pleasinglin apparanceandihavingi appeal to penlusersl A- furthen obj act is theprovision of: improved meanslfor moving; thelwriting material-.forwardin.the pen barrel :adapted to movethe. entire: mass of lwritingfmaterialforward and wiping; the walls ofthe. bore of. the barrelswhereby. none:of the writing material' is left. adhering tolsaid walls rearwardlyrofthe mass of-writingmaterial; .thereby increasing-the. time-between penfil1ings.-- Another. object is the: provisiom ofs improved gasketImea-nsadapted to" prevent leakage there-- through: as. it. is. moved.forwardlw in the pen barrel;v

A further. object is toprovide a piston adapted to be moved apredetermined-distance.-toward.the gasket andl writingmaterial with.provision .inr. termedietethe-piston.and .the forward portion of the"gasketlof' resilient-means exerting. aresilient pressurelagainsttherearendl'of. themassotwrih. ing material.

Other objects, advantages .and..capabilities.-of. theinventionlwil'libe.apparentlfromthe.following. description when. readin. conjunction with-the. accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure. 1 is an axialsection-tliroughia-penl-ems bodyingthe inventionFig. Z is an elevationall view ofltlie: pen. of. Fi'g. 1.

Fig. 3Jis an enlarged fragmentary axiahsection' taken alongi'line3.3"ofFig, 11.

Fig; 4' is a sectional' view taken alongrli'ne t's-4'. ofFig; 3'.

It is'to ,be understood..tliat;tlie.presentlinvem tionu relates to.improved." means. for. feeding? the pasty writinglmateriallto. thewritinghall of: the.

pen..

Throughoutlthis: specification thee-".wordfifere ward?! is. intended:toamean toward: thee writing 2. ball and--. the.- word: rear is intendedto I mean the .opposite :direction..-. I

In the drawing, thelpreferred form of mysine vention comprises a:mainbod-y portionor barrel lfl aztip member l2 removably'secured-to theforwardsend of thebarrel I0,- anipplemember. I4 removably secured. tothe rear endof the barrel a cap.- member- I 6 removably secured: to theerea-rz end ofthe? nipple memben-a-spring- [8- intermediate theassembled. nipple. member and cap-member, a-. piston. 211 and an.associated gas- Ket ZZ- adapted for. longitudinal movement within "the:bore. of the barrel and. aplungerrod 24 adapted-atosdectively move theassociated pisrtom-and. gasket forwardly in. the bore ofthebar-rel;-,.the spring. l8.being adaptedto normally, urge the plunger rodin a directiontoward the rear. endiof the barrel.. The space 2-6-forwardly Ofrthfi gasket-22 may be'filledwith a pasty-writingmat-eriahlEigtllillustratingthe relative positionloiithe severalpants of the-penwhen-it is filled. with writingtmaterial.

Thenipple member I 4 may comprise a sleeve provide d.withl a. centralbore 2 8 adj acent its rearend portion, altransverserwall 30 definingthe forward endpfithebore- 2 8. The opposed ends ofthe.-:nipple..member. may, bev externally threaded, theopposedthreaded.endsbeing separatedby an outwardlyprojectingiateralring-portionfillarger in diameter than the said threaded ends, adaptedtoser.ve:asa--shoulder member to-abut-the rear endioflthe-barrel and theforward endofthe cap member. of. .theassembled. pen.

The cap'member: lfismay-comprise anendwall 3ll-I fo'rrnedv with .a.central aperture therethrough and circular depending-side.- walls 35'internallythreaded.tol-registerr. with the. rear thread-ed end of; thenipple. member l t} The bore 28 of the nipplemember. Ill and. the boreof. the assembled cap. member. [6' may be of uniform diameter.adaptedit'o. form a. cavityv forhousing the spring- IBL.

Thepistbnilllmay comprise .a. cylindrical membent! Isli'gl'itly. smallerin diameter than thediamr etenof the boresofthe-barrel.v liltadapted forslidiing movement. in thebore .of the. barrel. The pistons may. haveeacentral; aperture. 38. there.-

throughsandmay. be .providedwith .a pair of. resil.

ient.members..4ll"rigidlyzsecured.to the. pistonland extendingrearwardlyon. opposed sides of the aperture 38. The opposed resilientmembers-All maybenormallyurged. atetheir free .ends toward each-. othersinto enga ement. with v the. opposed sidsoflthe-phnger rod. 2.4.Thepiston may=be made. of.v a. hard. on semi-hard: material; such asvulcanized-rubber, plastics-and the like. The se: curedaends.-ofthe.1-members- 4D maybe formed with: angularfportions: 4-1" adapted.to interlockthe i members; 481 with .the piston? member; theportionsiM-i beingiparticularly adaptable: for: this 3 purpose where thepiston is moulded of plastic material.

The gasket 22 may be made of a yieldable material such as rubber, felt,leather and the like and may comprise a cup-shaped member having a wall42 disposed transversely of the bore of the barrel l and in flatwiseabutting relation with the forward surface of the piston 20. Theperipheral portion of the wall 42 may be formed with a dependingforwardly extending wall 44 adapted to closely register with the bore inthe barrel. The inner surface of the wall .44 may taper inwardly andrearwardly from a relatively thin edge to the wall 42. The wall 42 maybe formed with a sleeve 46 extending forwardly therefrom and defining acentral aperture 48 coaxial with the bore of the barrel 10. The outerwall of the sleeve 46 may taper outwardly and rearwardly from arelatively thin edge to the wall 42. The aperture 48 may be of uniformdiameter throughout its major forward length and may be formed with anenlarged portion 58 adjacent its rear end. The gasket may be secured tothe adjacent surface of the piston 2|] as by bonding the gasket to thepiston.

The plunger rod 24 may comprise an elongated round rod formed at itsrear end with an enlarged push-button member 52. A laterally disposedwasher-like member 54 of larger diameter than the diameter of the member52 may be formed on the rod adjacent the connection of the rod with themember 52. The forward and rear end portions of the rod may be plain fora predetermined length and the intermediate portion of the rod may beprovided with a series of abutments 56 cut or otherwise formed therein.The forward end of each abutment 56 may be equal in diameter to thediameter of the rod and each abutment may taper rearwardly and inwardlyfrom its forward end to the next adjacent abutment.

So far in the specification, the several component parts of theinvention have been described separately. I will now describe theassembled parts and point out the cooperative relation of one part withanother.

The associated piston 20' and gasket 22 may be disposed within thebarrel II] in the relative position indicated in Fig. 1 when the space26 of the barrel is filled with writing material. The plunger rod 24 maybe centrally and longitudinally disposed within the bore of the barrelIn with the abutment portion of the rod extending through the alignedapertures 38 and 48 of the piston and gasket, respectively. The rearplain end portion of the plunger rod may extend through a centralaperture 3| of the wall 30 of the nipple member 14 with the member 54 ofthe rod normally held in abutting relation with the inner surface of theend wall 34 of the cap member by the spring I8; the spring l8 beingnormally under compression in its assembled position, with its rear endportion abutting the member 54 and its forward end portion abutting thewall 30. The push-button member 52 may extend through the centralaperture in the wall 34 of the cap member and may extend rearwardly ofthe wall 34 a predetermined distance substantially equal to the desiredforward stroke of the plunger rod required to move the piston forward anotch at a time. Viewing Fig. 1, the opposed free ends of the resilientmembers 4!] may be in abutting relation with the abutment nearest therear end of the plunger rod whereby, upon the forward movement of theplunger rod, the piston 28 will be moved forward in the barrel II] adistance equal to the stroke of the plunger rod, this distance beingsubstantially equal to the distance between adjacent abutments 5B of theplunger rod.

Upon each forward stroke of the plunger rod, the piston 20 andassociated resilient members 40 will be advanced in the barrel adistance equal to the length of an abutment 56 and the plunger rod willreturn to its normal position by means of the spring l8. During thereturn movement of the plunger rod, the opposed free ends of theresilient members 40 will move into interlocking engagement with thenext forward abutment of the plunger rod, adapted to maintain the pistonin its last advanced position and place the plunger rod in positionwhere, upon the next forward stroke thereof, the piston will be advancedanother notch. It will be understood that the members 40 require onlyenough spring to urge them at all times into engagement with the plungerrod and it will be seen from the drawing that the friction between themembers 40 and the tapered side Walls of the abutments 56 will be sonegligible that there will be no tendency for the spring-urged return ofthe plunger rod to pull the piston back with it. WhileI have shown theresilient members 40 as being substantially fiat in cross-section Icontemplate the use of members 40 concavo-convex in cross-section inorder to provide longitudinal rigidity of the members 40.

It will be understood that, upon forward advancement of the piston andassociated gasket, the mass of pasty Writing material will be movedforward bodily and a slight pressure may be built up through theresiliency in the gasket at the rear of the mass of writing material ifdesired to insure the proper feeding of the writing material to thewriting ball. It will be further understood that a full stroke of theplunger rod may not be necessary; the user of the pen being able todetermine by experience whether a full stroke is desirable or whetherless than a full stroke may be suflicient to feed the supply of writingmaterial to the writing ball.

When the push-button member '52 is pushed inwardly the gasket 22 will beurged forwardly in the pen barrel, the wall 44 of the gasket being heldin substantial sealing relation with the walls of the pen barrel by thecompressed writing material. As the gasket moves forwardly in the penbarrel the last mentioned sealing relation will wipe the walls of thepen barrel, eliminate the possibility of any of the writing materialadhering to the walls of the pen barrel rearwardly of the advancinggasket (eliminating leakage of the writing material at the cap member)and insure the use of the maximum amount of the supply of writingmaterial; the latter increasing the length of periods between penfillings. The sleeve 45 of the gasket 22, being resilient, will bepressed into sealing engagement with the contour of the abutment portionof the plunger rod by the action of the compressed writing materialagainst the sleeve 46, thereby preventing leakage of the writingmaterial from the forward reservoir 26 through the aligned apertures 38and 48 of the piston and gasket, respectively. The rear end portion ofthe aperture 38 may be formed with an enlarged portion 60 similar to theenlarged portion 50 of the aperture 48; both enlarged portions beingadapted to permit the abutments 56 of the plunger rod to enter theapertures 38 and 48 without interference. An aperture 58 may be formedin the forward end of the plunger rod for insertion therethrough of apin or other suitable detent member adapted for the purpose of engagingthe gasket for retraction thereof when the supply of writing materialhas been used up and the plunger rod is moved rearwardly to its initialrearward position.

It will be understood that the spring l8 may be replaced with othersuitable resilient means, if desired. I contemplate the use of a spring[8 or equivalent having resistance to compression sufficient to preventthe accidental forward movement of the plunger rod and I furthercontemplate the use of a supplemental cap removably secured to the capmember l6 adapted to prevent pushing the plunger rod forward while thesupplemental cap is in secured position.

I do not contemplate an air-tight fit between the plunger rod and themembers 14 and I6.

I contemplate the use of a combined piston and gasket, such as a pistonhaving the equivalent of resilient piston rings at its peripheryalthough I prefer the structure shown in the drawings in order toprovide some resiliency or give intermediate the writing material andthe piston. The wall 42 of the gasket may be considerably thicker thanshown in the drawings and may comprise a relatively soft, yieldablematerial whereby, when the plunger rod is pushed forward, the resiliencyin the wall 42 may exert a light pressure against the mass of writingmaterial not sufficient to force it out around the writing ball. Anysuitable resilient means may be used intermediate the writing materialand the piston. I propose to charge the pen barrel through the forwardend thereof to avoid possible entrapment of air between the gasket andthe writing material such as might occur if the barrel were charged fromthe rear end thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to prevent leakage of thewriting material adjacent the rear end of the pen barrel and to this endI prefer a gasket as shown in the drawings, having rearwardly taperingflexible walls 44 and a rearwardly tapering flexible sleeve 46. When thegasket is urged forwardly in the pen barrel, by the piston, the wall 44will be urged into sealing engagement with the inner bore of the penbarrel due to a slight pressure in the mass of writing material againstthe wall 44. The resilient sleeve 46 may be similarly pressed intosealing engagement with the contour of the abutment portion of theplunger rod by this same pressure, this sealing engagement beingrelieved as the pressure in the mass of writing material is reduced, asit will be when the next forward movement of the plunger rod isindicated as being desirable.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed herein, it will be understood that this is merely illustrativeand is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention,reference being had for this purpose to the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A fountain pen including a hollow barrel, a piston slidable in thebarrel formed with an axial aperture, an elongated plunger rod extendingslidably through said aperture, said rod formed with a series ofrearwardly tapered ratchet teeth, an elongated leaf spring affixed toand having its major portion disposed lengthwise of the barrelrearwardly of the piston, the rear end of said spring being adaptedthrough tension therein to normally wipingly engage said teeth when theplunger rod is moved in one direction and adapted to engage said teethinterlockingly when the plunger rod is moved in the opposite directionwhereby said plunger rod may be moved axially in said one directlonwithout moving the piston and may be moved in said opposite direction tobodily move said piston, respectively.

' 2. l'ne structure or claim 1 wherein a resilient gasket formed with anaxial aperture is disposed lorwaraly of the piston, said gasket having aforwardly extending peripheral iiallge adapted to closely register withand wipingly engage the interior wall of the barrel, the inner wall ofsaid flange tapering rearwardly and inwardly from a thin forwardcircular edge.

3. The structure or claim 1 wherein a resilient gasket is disposedforwardly of the piston formed with a forwardly extending centralextension having an axial aperture therethrough in coaxial alignmentwith the plunger rod, the inner Wall of said aperture being parallelwith said rod and the outer wall thereof bein tapered rearwardly andoutwardly from a thin lorward circular edge, said edge being adapted towipingly engage the periphery of said rod when the latter is movedaxially through said gasket.

4. A fountain pen including a hollow barrel, a piston formed with anaxial aperture slidable in the barrel, an elongated plunger rodextending slidably through said aperture, said rod formed with a seriesof peripheral rearwardly tapered ratchet teeth, a pair of leaf springssecured to and having their major portions disposed lengthwise of thebarrel on opposed sides of the plunger rod rearwardly of the piston, therear ends of said springs being adapted through tension therein towipingly engage said teeth when said rod is moved axially in onedirection and adapted to interlockingly engage said teeth When the rodis moved in the opposite direction.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein the rear ends of the springs areadapted to spread away from each other laterally of the barrel as theplunger rod is moved axially in one direction and adapted throughtension in the springs to snap into interlocked relation with teeth assaid rod is moved in said one direction a distance equal to the spacingbetween the teeth, whereby, upon moving said rod in the oppositedirection, the piston will be moved bodily with the rod a distance equalto the stroke of the rod without lost motion between the rod and thepiston.

ARTHUR F. OCONNOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 279,025 Shafer June 5, 1883448,939 Cronkhite Mar. 24, 1891 677,667 Kirschen July 2, 1901 851,586Clark Apr. 23, 1907 2,221,739 Reiter Nov. 12, 1940 2,243,774 Resh May27, 1941 2,276,722 Hillman Mar. 17, 1942 2,356,874 Nageotte Aug. 29,1944 2,409,656 Austin Oct. 22, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date476,971 Great Britain 1937

